


C'est magnifique être sympathique

by noxfelicis



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, F/M, Gen, Nino Lahiffe Appreciation Zine, Record store au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:55:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24774985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noxfelicis/pseuds/noxfelicis
Summary: Just a short Coffeeshop AU I wrote for the Nino Appreciation zine last year. Nino works in a coffeeshop/recordstore and everyone loves and appreciates him. The title is a line from the chorus of the song Sympathique, by Pink Martini.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Alya Césaire & Nino Lahiffe, Alya Césaire/Nino Lahiffe, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nino Lahiffe
Comments: 6
Kudos: 18





	C'est magnifique être sympathique

_9 July_

It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon the first time Alya entered the Sip’N’Spin. Her first impression was that the name was terribly corny, even for a record store combined with a coffee shop. Couches sat up against the walls, alternating with shelves and racks full of new and used records. Small tables in front of the seating provided patrons with a place to set their coffee cups. At the back end of the surprising long and narrow store was the counter, where an attractive young barista was taking orders from a family of (Alya assumed) tourists. She approached slowly, managing to overhear the tail-end of their conversation.

The barista chatted with the customers as he dispensed fresh-brewed coffee into three to-go cups. “Well, I hope you all enjoy your time in town. Definitely check out the pie shop around the corner if you’re into that. You will _not_ regret it.” He ducked below the counter to pull a jug of cream out and topped off one of the orders with a flourish. “Here you go!”

As the tourists collected their cups and moved off to the side, Alya stepped up to the counter. The barista turned to her with a wide smile on his face. “Hey, what can I get for you today?”

Alya contemplated the menu scrawled in chalk on a blackboard mounted high on the back wall. Lots of interesting options, but there would be time enough to try them all out. “I’ll get an iced chai latte, light on the ice.”

“Sure thing!” He punched the order in and started fixing her latte while Alya swiped her card. As he assembled the drink, she took the opportunity to really observe him. He was tall, maybe six feet, and lanky. His close-cropped hair peeked out under the edges of his baseball cap, little tufts of fringe pressed flat against his forehead. He wore a denim apron over his black uniform, a color combination that complimented his bronze skin. A rainbow of wristbands jostled around on his right arm as he moved about. “There you are.” He met her eyes, just as Alya realized, perhaps a moment too late to hide it, that she was staring.

“Oh, thanks.” Instead of finding a to-go lid and leaving like she’d planned, Alya took a seat at one of the stools by the counter. The shop was fairly empty, and the few other patrons there were occupied with laptops or records. She took a sip of her latte.

“How is it?”

“It’s good.” She smiled. “Definitely made the right choice.”

“I’m glad. Is this your first time coming to the Sip’N’Spin?” He rinsed out several shot glasses with what Alya assumed was a small, high-pressure spigot under the counter as he spoke.

“Yup.” She sipped her latte again, savoring the notes of cardamom and clove. “Not the last time though, for sure.”

“I’m glad,” he said again, with a grin that somehow assured Alya that he truly meant it.

On a whim, she stuck her hand out. “I’m Alya.”

He shook her hand. His grip was firm, his fingers slightly callused. “Nino.”

  
  


_24 July_

Marinette wiped down the counter, swaying slightly to the music playing over the speakers. Nino emerged from the back room to man the register. She bumped his hip with hers, nodding toward where the music was coming from. “One of your mixes?”

He nodded, grinning, before turning to greet a customer approaching the counter. Marinette kept cleaning, rinsing out glasses and organizing the stacks of to-go cups. When Nino started making the customer’s order, she caught his attention again. “It’s good. Everything on this playlist has been really good.”

“Thanks.” He was already looking down as he dispensed freshly ground coffee into a single-serving filter basket and tamped it down, but he ducked his head lower, trying and failing to hide the blush spreading across his face. “I put a lot of time into it.”

The bell on the door clanged softly, heralding the entrance of a young woman with thick auburn hair. Marinette noted with amused surprise that Nino’s blush darkened when he noticed her. 

“Hey! Alya, wasn’t it?”

“Mhm. Nino?”

“That’s me. What can I do for you today?” Nino rested his forearms on the counter and leaned forward. Marinette smirked, knowing he wouldn’t notice. Nino was always friendly with the customers, especially the regulars, but this was _extra_ friendly.

Alya ran her hand along her side of the counter before also leaning in slightly. “Welllll, let’s start with a London Fog. It may be hot outside, but if I hang out here for long I’m likely to freeze.”

Nino chuckled and started the tea brewing. “Yeah, we like to blast the AC.”

“And great music,” Marinette chimed in. She gestured slightly towards Nino with her head. “You know, he did the remix playing right now.”

Nino’s embarrassed “Mariii” was drowned out by Alya’s excited gasp. “Wait, that must be why I couldn’t find the ‘Sympathique’ remix I heard here the other day. Did you do that one too?”

Nino nodded. He rubbed the back of his neck, a gesture Marinette figured he had picked up from Adrien. “Y-yeah. You liked it?”

“So good. As soon as I got home, I tried to find it on Spotify, but no luck. Makes sense though. You ever think about putting your mixes online?”

“Eh, I’ve put a few up. Trying to get some traction but it’s been slow going.”

Alya nodded slowly, before a wide smirk spread across her face. “I might be able to help you there. I majored in journalism and social-media marketing, and I’m trying to expand my portfolio. If you send me that ‘Sympathique’ remix, I might even do it for free.” She winked.

“Really?”

“Of course. Here, this is my number. Text me.” Alya tore a scrap of paper out of her notebook and scribbled down a number before sliding it across the counter to him.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Nino nodded several times, beaming. “Soon as I get off work.”

A few hours later, Marinette and Nino were cleaning up after closing. Nino was wiping the counter with one hand, his other fidgeting with something in his pocket.

“Got something there? Maybe someone’s number?” Marinette singsonged.

Nino blushed but didn’t speak. That was enough for Marinette though.

“Go ahead, text her. I’ll finish up.”  
“You sure? I’m still thinking about what to say though.”

“How about, ‘hey, it’s the cute guy from Sip’N’Spin.’”

“Noooo,” he groaned.

“Why not? It’s true.”

“It’s narcissistic.”

Marinette shrugged. “Not really? You’re a good-looking guy, and confidence is attractive.”

“Thanks?”

“I’m serious. She’s clearly into you, so why not flirt a little?”

Nino perked up. “You think she’s into me?”

She rolled her eyes, smiling fondly at him. “It was almost as obvious as I am around Adrien.”

“Nothing is that obvious.”

“And _you_ were almost as obvious too.”

He shrugged, not denying it.

“Look, you shouldn’t be surprised. As previously established, you’re hot. You’re smart, you make a mean espresso.”

“She hasn’t had my espresso yet,” Nino deflected.

“She will. Anyway. Your music skills are beyond this world and you’ve got great style. But better than all of that? You’re so kind and open-hearted. I think the only reason it wasn’t more obvious that you like her is that you always have something nice to say to everyone who walks in that door. You genuinely care about people and their stories, and I know of several people who come here just to talk to you. You’re pretty awesome, Nino, and people notice that.”

His blush spread,the tips of his ears now a dull red. “Thanks, Mari,” he muttered.

“Any time.” She pulled him in for a hug. “Now go text her.”

  
  


_7 August_

Adrien heard the door unlock and faint whistling over the jingling of keys. As the door opened, he called out. “Nino, is that you?”

“Hey, dude.” Nino shut the door behind him and set his stuff on the entryway table before taking off his shoes. He held one upside down over a small cardboard box and knocked it against the side, shaking loose a small collection of coffee grounds.

“You home for the night, bro?” Adrien was sprawled out on the couch, shoulders scrunched against one armrest, legs hooked over the other, laptop resting on his chest.

Nino glanced up from shaking out his other shoe and shook his head. “No, just stopping in for a shower and change of clothes. I’m meeting up with Alya in a bit.”

Adrien set his laptop aside and sat up halfway. “Oooh, yeah, how’s that going?”

Nino shrugged, but he couldn’t hide the grin slowly spreading across his face. “She’s pretty great. I mean, she made my website not even a week ago and I’ve already got double the number of plays I had before.”

“You know I wasn’t asking about your music — though that’s awesome. I knew it was just a matter of people knowing you exist to realize that you’re amazing.”

“Whatever you say, dude.” Nino ruffled Adrien’s hair as he headed past him to the bathroom.

“Seriously though, are you guys dating? Because I can give her The Talk.”

Nino chuckled. “ _The Talk_? I’m pretty sure she knows more than you do about—”

“No, no, no. Not _that_ Talk. I mean the ‘if you break my man Nino’s heart I will end you’ Talk. The ‘he is all that is good and pure in this world and he deserves to be cherished forever’ Talk.”

“Dude.” Nino sounded a little choked up.

Adrien leaned back over the armrest to catch an upside-down view of Nino’s face. “I mean it. She sounds pretty awesome but only the best for my best friend.”

“Did you and Mari team up to say nice things about me or something?”

Adrien shook his head, then smiled conspiratorially. “No, but we can. There should be a Nino appreciation day every month. No wait, every week.”

Nino laughed. “I think that might start to go to my head.”

“Well, good. I’d rather you get too much appreciation than too little, and there’s no such thing as too much of that. “

“Heh. If you say so.”

“I do.” Adrien sat up to look him in the eyes. “We love you, Nino, and don’t you forget it.” He held up a fist in a parody of a threat. Nino bumped his own fist against it and turned back to the hallway.

“Love you too, man. Love you too.”

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! My tumblr is peregrer, though I've yet to post much ML stuff there...


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